Ok. So a buddy and I were looking over the suspension of my truck looking at how worn out my leaf springs are and I found this...







Previous owners broke the bracket and did a horible job of welding it and now Im stuck with broken welds and bracket.

So yeah, if any of y'all got a 4x4 first gen, it wouldnt hurt to get under there and check your bracket for any bends, hair-line cracks or in my case, ignorance and bad welding.

I went to the local dodge house and got a price quote for the bracket. Its a two-part bracket. The upper bracket(Pt# 4447156) is $208.75 and the lower bracket(Pt# 52057901) is $60.00.

If anyone knows where I can get these NEW without that heft price, please let me know.

I plan to eventually replace the brackets with new ones along with my leaf springs, shocks, bushings, ect.. but as a temp fix Im gonna take it to the "best welding/machine shop" in town and have them re-weld it.

Also, if anyone knows of any good aftermarket leaf springs or knows where I can get cheap OEM leafs please let me know.
Another "Also", anyone have any recomendations on good shocks.

 

Hows your fabbin' skills. That looks horrible! To me it looks like any downward articulation would remove that bracket from the frame. Theres a way to build a spring bracket. I built a set for a ramcharger once. The stockers look all convoluted but the ones to build are easy. Just a lot of plate and some sqaure tubing. For sure tons cheaper than anything from the factory and I guarantee tons stronger. As far as shocks go I run pro comp 9000's. I like 'em.

 

I think before I spent that much on brackets, I'd try grinding it out and re-welding it properly. Keep an eye on it for awhile, maybe OK, never know...

 

there is a thread somewhere on pirate 4x4 in the dodge section detailing someone's buildup on a ramcharger where he built a sweet, heavy duty front spring hanger setup with a crossbar that dies the two hangers together.